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Power Struggle In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

513 Words3 Pages

Conflict, be it within oneself or with another person is oftentimes difficult to overcome in the best of circumstances, and it is arguably never more difficult than when the outcome is a matter of life and death. This theme of a power struggle is central to Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, in which the characters known only as Jig and the American struggle to find a compromise which makes them both content while discussing Jig’s pregnancy and possible subsequent abortion. Hemingway uses several examples of symbolism including hills resembling white elephants, a bamboo bead curtain, and a railroad track to emphasize the separation which is driven between individuals in a relationship who fail to find a solution due to miscommunication. Indeed, remaining consistent with Hemingway’s iceberg style of writing, these seemingly simple examples of common elements of a Spanish railway station are representative of a much more complicated paradigm of human relationships. …show more content…

The hills are introduced by Jig, who expresses, “They look like white elephants” (Hemingway 401). A white elephant can be defined not as an animal, but as: “the unwanted possession, the objectified burden” (Hollander 214). In this case, the burden is Jig’s unborn baby. The American dismisses her, saying “I’ve never seen one”, to which Jig responds “No, you wouldn’t have”. This disagreement is the first clue of a conflict between their attitudes, but Jig appears to back down for the sake of being agreeable, and expresses to the American she was, “being amused” (Hemingway

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Ernest Hemingway uses repetition and ambiguity in his story, “Hills like White Elephants'' to exhibit the idea that in order to maintain a healthy long-term relationship, communication and consideration of one another’s values are needed. Throughout this story, a couple, Jig and the American, are having an intense and emotional conversation about whether Jig should have an abortion. She displays very sensitive feelings about the procedure, and the American takes advantage of this by trying to manipulate her, repeatedly stating it is her choice: “if [she doesn’t] want to [she doesn’t] have to. [He] wouldn’t have [her] do it if [she] didn’t want to” (477). By doing this he falsely implies he has no opinion, but later contradicts himself by

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Hills Like A White Elephant Literary Analysis Essay

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Good People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis

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Power In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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Power is a fragile thing. It can be something physical and tangible or it can be something discarnate, something of the mind. Power can be fleeting; just because one side holds more power, doesn’t mean the other side is powerless, an idea exemplified in Hills Like White Elephants. Although the man hold more power within his relationship to the girl, she holds power in the fact that she understands their relationship is doomed. While he will be unable to comprehend the downward trajectory of their affair until it is too late, she knows that going through with it - whatever it is - will not save their relationship.

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Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

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Throughout the short story (1), “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway is speaking about a seemingly unwanted pregnancy and a woman’s uneasiness with going through an abortion. However, Hemingway never explicitly says in this work of fiction (2) that it is about abortion or that the woman, Jig, is uncomfortable with it, but uses symbolism (3) to present this to the audience. At the time “Hills like White Elephants” was published, in 1927, abortion was illegal in most places and a very taboo subject that wasn’t to be openly discussed in public. Thus, Hemingway relied greatly upon the use of symbolism to get his message across for this reason as well as the third person narrator (4) that did not give insight into the character’s thoughts within this piece of literature (5) . He uses symbols such as the train station, white hills, the baggage, and the drinks to point towards the underlying internal conflict (6) of Jig’s decision that is being heavily influenced by the American man, who wants Jig to get the abortion.

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During the course of the story “Hills Like White Elephants” the author Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism to describe the the main idea of the girl having the “operation.” Hemingway uses the landscape, the white elephant, and the term “elephant in the room” to represent different aspects of the pregnancy and abortion. The landscape in the story represents choosing the abortion or choosing to keep the baby. The setting of the story is at a train station.

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